World population growth in Lesotho
Lesotho: World population growth was -0.2% in 2100. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2100)
-0.2%
Change on year
down 11.7%
World rank
107th
of 239 countries
All-time high
3.7%
in 1967
All-time low
-1.0%
in 2005
Years of data
163
1700–2100
World population growth in Lesotho, 1700–2100
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded -0.2% for world population growth in 2100.
The figure is down 11.7% on the previous year and down 204.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, world population growth in Lesotho peaked at 3.7% in 1967 and was at its lowest, -1.0%, in 2005.
Lesotho ranks 107th of 239 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
World population growth in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 | 0.1% | — |
| 1800 | 0.2% | +57.4% |
| 1900 | 0.9% | +324.5% |
| 1905 | 1.3% | +40.8% |
| 1910 | 1.2% | -3.6% |
| 1915 | 1.1% | -5.1% |
| 1920 | 1.8% | +53.3% |
| 1925 | 2.1% | +18.1% |
| 1930 | 2.0% | -1.6% |
| 1935 | 2.0% | -2.4% |
| 1940 | 2.0% | -2.0% |
| 1945 | 1.9% | -2.9% |
| 1950 | 1.8% | -7.5% |
| 1951 | 1.9% | +8.3% |
| 1952 | 2.0% | +5.6% |
| 1953 | 2.1% | +4.7% |
| 1954 | 2.2% | +5.1% |
| 1955 | 2.3% | +3.3% |
| 1956 | 2.4% | +3.5% |
| 1957 | 2.8% | +20.0% |
| 1958 | 2.9% | +2.1% |
| 1959 | 3.0% | +1.9% |
| 1960 | 3.0% | +0.9% |
| 1961 | 3.0% | +0.1% |
| 1962 | 3.0% | -0.2% |
| 1963 | 3.0% | -0.9% |
| 1964 | 2.9% | -0.8% |
| 1965 | 2.9% | -0.2% |
| 1966 | 3.5% | +18.5% |
| 1967 | 3.7% | +6.2% |
| 1968 | 3.6% | -0.9% |
| 1969 | 3.6% | -0.7% |
| 1970 | 3.6% | -1.0% |
| 1971 | 3.5% | -1.2% |
| 1972 | 3.5% | -1.4% |
| 1973 | 3.4% | -1.3% |
| 1974 | 3.4% | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 3.5% | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 3.0% | -14.6% |
| 1977 | 2.8% | -4.6% |
| 1978 | 2.9% | +1.8% |
| 1979 | 2.9% | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 2.9% | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 2.9% | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 2.9% | -0.3% |
| 1983 | 2.9% | -0.7% |
| 1984 | 2.9% | -1.0% |
| 1985 | 2.8% | -1.1% |
| 1986 | 2.3% | -19.7% |
| 1987 | 2.2% | -4.6% |
| 1988 | 2.1% | -3.8% |
| 1989 | 2.0% | -4.9% |
| 1990 | 1.8% | -6.4% |
| 1991 | 1.7% | -6.3% |
| 1992 | 1.6% | -7.9% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | -10.5% |
| 1994 | 1.3% | -10.4% |
| 1995 | 1.2% | -8.8% |
| 1996 | 1.0% | -16.8% |
| 1997 | 0.6% | -36.6% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | -38.3% |
| 1999 | 0.1% | -63.4% |
| 2000 | -0.1% | -151.1% |
| 2001 | -0.2% | +231.0% |
| 2002 | -0.4% | +63.0% |
| 2003 | -0.6% | +52.5% |
| 2004 | -0.8% | +41.3% |
| 2005 | -1.0% | +23.2% |
| 2006 | 0.2% | -119.3% |
| 2007 | 0.6% | +229.1% |
| 2008 | 0.7% | +9.9% |
| 2009 | 0.7% | +4.9% |
| 2010 | 0.8% | +7.7% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | +21.0% |
| 2012 | 1.0% | +7.4% |
| 2013 | 1.1% | +8.1% |
| 2014 | 1.2% | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | +2.8% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +5.2% |
| 2017 | 1.2% | -0.8% |
| 2018 | 1.2% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 1.1% | -4.3% |
| 2020 | 1.2% | +6.2% |
| 2021 | 1.1% | -11.7% |
| 2022 | 1.1% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 1.1% | +3.6% |
| 2024 | 1.1% | -1.2% |
| 2025 | 1.1% | -1.4% |
| 2026 | 1.1% | +0.1% |
| 2027 | 1.1% | -2.1% |
| 2028 | 1.1% | +0.3% |
| 2029 | 1.1% | -1.1% |
| 2030 | 1.0% | -1.8% |
| 2031 | 1.0% | +0.2% |
| 2032 | 1.0% | -0.2% |
| 2033 | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| 2034 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 2035 | 1.0% | -0.2% |
| 2036 | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| 2037 | 1.0% | -3.7% |
| 2038 | 1.0% | -1.6% |
| 2039 | 0.9% | -1.7% |
| 2040 | 0.9% | -1.8% |
| 2041 | 0.9% | -1.8% |
| 2042 | 0.9% | -2.5% |
| 2043 | 0.9% | -2.9% |
| 2044 | 0.8% | -2.5% |
| 2045 | 0.8% | -2.5% |
| 2046 | 0.8% | -2.4% |
| 2047 | 0.8% | -2.1% |
| 2048 | 0.8% | -4.0% |
| 2049 | 0.7% | -4.7% |
| 2050 | 0.7% | -4.3% |
| 2051 | 0.7% | -1.2% |
| 2052 | 0.6% | -5.8% |
| 2053 | 0.6% | -6.1% |
| 2054 | 0.6% | -6.3% |
| 2055 | 0.6% | -1.2% |
| 2056 | 0.5% | -6.8% |
| 2057 | 0.5% | -2.7% |
| 2058 | 0.5% | -4.4% |
| 2059 | 0.5% | -2.9% |
| 2060 | 0.4% | -6.2% |
| 2061 | 0.4% | -4.6% |
| 2062 | 0.4% | -4.5% |
| 2063 | 0.4% | -11.5% |
| 2064 | 0.3% | -6.5% |
| 2065 | 0.3% | -8.8% |
| 2066 | 0.3% | -0.7% |
| 2067 | 0.3% | -2.3% |
| 2068 | 0.3% | -4.8% |
| 2069 | 0.3% | -7.9% |
| 2070 | 0.2% | -7.0% |
| 2071 | 0.2% | -14.7% |
| 2072 | 0.2% | -15.3% |
| 2073 | 0.2% | -6.4% |
| 2074 | 0.2% | -5.0% |
| 2075 | 0.1% | -28.8% |
| 2076 | 0.1% | -0.9% |
| 2077 | 0.1% | -10.2% |
| 2078 | 0.1% | -21.6% |
| 2079 | 0.1% | -17.1% |
| 2080 | 0.0% | -46.0% |
| 2081 | 0.0% | -26.5% |
| 2082 | 0.0% | -68.0% |
| 2083 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2084 | -0.0% | — |
| 2085 | -0.0% | +242.9% |
| 2086 | -0.0% | -37.5% |
| 2087 | -0.0% | +200.0% |
| 2088 | -0.0% | +8.9% |
| 2089 | -0.1% | +26.5% |
| 2090 | -0.1% | +6.5% |
| 2091 | -0.1% | +33.3% |
| 2092 | -0.1% | +34.1% |
| 2093 | -0.1% | -4.2% |
| 2094 | -0.1% | +8.8% |
| 2095 | -0.1% | +21.1% |
| 2096 | -0.1% | -0.0% |
| 2097 | -0.2% | +14.1% |
| 2098 | -0.2% | +3.5% |
| 2099 | -0.2% | +2.3% |
| 2100 | -0.2% | +11.7% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's -0.2% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.0%. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's -0.2% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3%. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where World population growth in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | +324.5% | 0.2% | 0.9% |
| 2085 | -242.9% | -0.0% | -0.0% |
| 2007 | +229.1% | 0.2% | 0.6% |
| 2001 | -231.0% | -0.1% | -0.2% |
| 2087 | -200.0% | -0.0% | -0.0% |
| 2000 | -151.1% | 0.1% | -0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1700s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1 |
| 1800s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1 |
| 1900s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 2 |
| 1910s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2 |
| 1920s | 1.9% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 2 |
| 1930s | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2 |
| 1940s | 1.9% | 1.9% | 2.0% | 2 |
| 1950s | 2.3% | 1.8% | 3.0% | 10 |
| 1960s | 3.2% | 2.9% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 3.3% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 2.0% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.1% | 0.1% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.1% | -1.0% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2030s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2040s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2050s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2060s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2070s | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 10 |
| 2080s | -0.0% | -0.1% | 0.0% | 10 |
| 2090s | -0.1% | -0.2% | -0.1% | 10 |
| 2100s | -0.2% | -0.2% | -0.2% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More population data for Lesotho
- Population regions with projections, annual growth rate -0.1905 % change on previous year (2100)
- Urban and rural population 2050, annual growth rate -1.14 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population long run with projections, annual growth rate -0.1905 % change on previous year (2100)
- Un population 2024 vs 2022, annual growth rate -0.3315 % change on previous year (2100)
- Projected population under age 5, annual growth rate -0.6353 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population density 107.36 people per km² (2100)
- Number of children under 5, by world region 190,191 people (2100)
- Population growth rate, by level of development -0.2% (2100)
- Number of people living in urban and rural areas, annual growth rate 3.4 % change on previous year (2025)
- Number of people living in urban and rural areas, per unit of GDP 0.0004 people per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is world population growth in Lesotho?
- World population growth in Lesotho was -0.2% in 2100, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest world population growth recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 1967.
- What is the lowest world population growth recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.0% in 2005.
- How does Lesotho rank for world population growth?
- Lesotho ranks 107th out of 239 countries with data for 2100.
- Is world population growth rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 204.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of World population growth. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 163 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average exponential rate of growth of the population over a given period. It is calculated as ln(P2/P1) where P1 and P2 are the populations on subsequent years. Available from 1700 to 2100, based on data and estimates from different sources.